1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an absorbent article to be attached to a lower body of an animal and more particularly to an absorbent article which can easily fit around the legs and the waist of a four-footed animal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Elongated absorbent articles having an abdomen part for facing the abdomen of an animal and a back part for facing the back of the animal have been used for absorbing urine, feces, or menses discharged from animals. Absorbent articles of this type are generally applied such that an intermediate portion lying between the abdomen and back parts fits around the thighs of the hind legs. At each side of the abdomen part, there is provided an attachment tab with an engaging member, such as a hook or loop member of a hook-and-loop fastener. With the abdomen part being applied to the abdomen of an animal, the attachment tabs are pulled up and secured to the exterior surface of the back part. Such an absorbent article is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-159591.
Absorbent articles for four-footed animals require not only that the abdomen and back parts are tightly wrapped around the waist of an animal, but that the intermediate part is tightly wrapped around the thighs of the hind legs. If the intermediate part is not tightly wrapped around the thighs, the absorbent article will be loose at the excretory part of the animal to cause leakage of urine or feces. In case of a male, furthermore, there is a possibility that the penis will protrude out of the absorbent article from the side edge of the intermediate part.
The conventional absorbent articles for animals have only one engaging member on each side of the abdomen part. In four-footed animals, however, since the thigh of the hind leg has a considerably large perimeter, the perimeter of the waist is generally as large as or smaller than the perimeter of the thigh. In addition, the area which permits fastening of the abdomen part to the back part of the absorbent article is located considerably forward of the excretory part such as the anus.
Accordingly, even if the attachment tabs are firmly secured to the exterior surface of the back part, it is difficult to ensure that the intermediate part of the absorbent article is tightly wrapped around the thighs of the hind legs. This may result in that the absorbent article is loose around the thighs and the intermediate part of the absorbent article slips down to the knees of the hind legs.